Munster. Cathedral...

This is us in Munster! Our second day in Europe was spent in Germany, at the Christmas markets. This is one of the few photos without us eating. That day, we had; mulled wine/hot chocolates, potato cakes, olives, chestnuts, schnitzels, a German drink called cola - fanta, chocolate, apple cider, coffee, fries and a croquette burger. As you can tell, we were kept busy eating all day. However, we still had time to look at the market stalls. Everything there was lit up with Christmas lights, making it all very festive and fun to be at. The architecture was also beautiful; every separate building was a work of art. All in all, we had a great day in Munster, Germany.

So here we are in Germany...

New coats.

First extract from Ge's travel diary: Day 1, Europe!

Then M left for work so seeing as we were jet lagged, we all had a sleep and I woke at 10:30am. We decided to go shopping, so we went for a walk and found some shops. First we had a look around the mall, then we went to a place called V&D. (ED: Pronounced Vay and Day).

I had a look with Dad as we split up. My favourite parts were the Harry Potter section and the chocolates section. (ED: I second that) After an hour of shopping, we met at the cafe. I got a lemonade and L, Mum and Dad got coffee. (ED: let's just say it wasn't the best coffee they have tasted )They all wanted boots, so we went shoe shopping (I found that boring). They all got shoes so we went to the post office to post some stuff.

After that, we went to the supermarket (on the way we got hotdogs)(ED: L and K remembered this particular hotdog place from the last trip!). We got some stuff for dinner and some (ED: A lot of) snacks. When we finished shopping, we went back (still walking) and I had a croissant and some stroopwaffles. After we finished food, we started a Sherlock Holmes novel (as a serial), which was very interesting (ED: Especially when Dad did an English accent). Then, I relaxed in bed and wrote this.
By Ge

Changi snaps

Wasting away the hours in Singapore

Hello everyone,

Currently we are all very tired. The only reason I'm writing this is because we have a bit under 3 hours until our KLM flight leaves for the Netherlands. Then the flight is 13 and a half hours long. Ge and K have gone on a walk, leaving Gw searching for public WiFi and L writing this. It probably will be published after it's been written because WiFi can't be easily found in Changi (the Singaporean airport we are at). (Ed found the answer - go to an info desk, they'll give you a password, but you're supposed to present a passport, but possibly you'll be ok even if you haven't got one!).

After a close encounter with almost being overcharged at an airport Burger King, (Ed: wrong conversion in the wrong direction) we made our way to the bag drop, 3 hours early. When quickly checked in, we went to the baggage check, consisting of one small X-ray machine (that's probably not the correct name for it, but I hope you know what I mean) and a singular bored looking woman operating the entire system. (ed: this was underkill after Australia's thousands of officious border controllers, watchers and gunpowder checkers) Then was a quick passport check and we were through to explore the shops and terminals.

Throughout the large (Ed: Changi) airport is scattered lit up and sparkling Christmas decorations. You can catch the occasional snatch of We Wish You A Merry Christmas at random times, seeming to come from the roof. In the middle of the food court is a giant rainbow present, complete with a red and silver bow. Inside, are some large plush angry bird toys for FREE*.

Despite the late hour, a pianist arrives and sits at the grand piano sitting on a platform near some flowers seemingly embedded in the wooden floorboard floor. The style is jazz piano, suiting the busy environment. He draws a small crowd after playing (probably his own) takes on Fur Elise and Silent Night.

I'm sitting on a chair big enough for three people, but made for one. I am surrounded by brightly upholstered furniture. Everyone sitting down seems to be holding an Apple appliance. Me included.

Ge has just returned back unsuccessful from the "free" plush angry birds, after asking if they had a spare one to give away. Unfortunately the answer was no. Ge came back in tears (joking).

Anyway, I can't really think of anything else to write.

Bye for now, by L.

*That is - if you buy over $120 worth of anything from anywhere through the whole building.

Almost ready...

Ok, so now that we're all organised for something to do next year, ie. Ge has a high school to go to, K has a job, L and Gw are just doing the same as ever... just a few things to do before we take off next week for Europe! A bit of 3 on 3, a few parties, a get-together with the deacons at the new place, an orientation day, a graduation and then we take off!

Our first airline to Singapore is Jetstar, so should we purchase some food/drinks at the airport, or just buy something on the plane??

We'll probably put up occasional notes/photos on this blog, not just by me, but also by whoever wants to... it seems that we may not only stay in Ghent, Belgium, but also in a seaside town, of which the name currently eludes me. So, a seaside holiday in a North Sea destination, but we're told that there will be an ice-skating rink here, so thats something to look forward to...

I'm excited about the Tintin museum in Brussels, I'll ask the others what they are most looking forward to as well.

By Gw

I thought I'd let Ge sign off, from this, the first post, pre-Eurotrip. So here is his signature, with a few sound effects, from a little while ago! Just click on the video below.

hp7b

A midnight appointment
To see the horcri found and vanquished;
A celebration of the Harry Potter Brotherhood and
Hermione sisterhood
And many others in between,
having rarely seen a shopping complex
so brimming with anticipation

I, armed with paper take-away
Mocha, sugar and caffeine
Entered the breech
Ready for an assortment
Of dragons, beasts and the big V

For who doesn't enjoy Darth Vader
beaten,
Sauron
at a loss,
The un-nameable, named,
Voldemort,
Smashed to smithereens

Still, my 13 year old, Harry Potter wise,
seeing beyond the black/white dichotomy,
observed, despite the ultimate victory,
won in the ruins of Hogwarts,
Of the final stand of Voldemort,
Calling for support over the 'dead' body
of HP,

...why couldn't Draco, white hair nonetheless,
Have refused the invitation
Of familial voices
having been touched by something stronger,
Than family or allegiance?

Still, having applauded,
At the kiss of Ron/Hermione,
Laughed at the desperation in V,
Whose name has lost it's power,
we were finally amused by the 19 year aging
Of our heroes,
and the new generation, setting off
hopeful, and in fulfillment of,
a future, of chocolate frogs and
Owls
And much more,
yet to be imagined.

The unexpected journey

I never really thought I had it in me,
A compulsion of a different nature.
Lived out over two seasons, never ending
And unconnected to the weather; Summer and Winter by name,

Developing, building, returning to the 'fundamentals',
Religiously searching for 'the answer',
And of course, realizing,
The futility of
That search.

The danger, always there,
Of devotion to the victor's cause, at the expense of the 'pawns',
The players, noticeable, tempting,
Perceptible.

The tone, volume of my voice,
Representative of power?
A strategy which devalues 'the other'
Team, forgetting,
Their human richness;
And similarity to 'us';

Or even falling for the Aussie,
Penchant for undercutting,
Of the upholder of standards in black and white,
Could he/she actually be wrong/right?
The ref, 'c'mon ref!'
Exploiting technicalities for advantage,
All of this,
Representative of an inability to win,
Or for that matter,
Lose well.

This unexpected journey,
Started slowly,
For me, called up to
Coach 'the team',
My son, seven, my daughter nine.

Slowly, with few ideas,
Having played the game socially,
12 years ago.
Let's try a layup!
Dribble races, shoot a few goals if you can.

To no avail, first game 82 -
2, scoreline against us,
Still a win in that our only scorer
The littlest of all,
Amelia.

Also notice, the us, in
'against us',
And my vicarious participation in
this game.

It is to be these little victories that count
For more,
In the long run
Than the emphatic.

As I enter into the world
Of the pacing
Maniac,
Scrawling X and O
Onto whiteboard
Having learnt from YouTube,
A manual, another coach,
Using too many words, instead of listening -

- To the wise
Prophet, four foot guard,
In no unlikely terms,
"coaches put their hands in too",
"I just went on!",
and the inevitable tears of
the misunderstood.

So in the end,
My spirit of connection,
To the cause,
Cemented by my return,
To competitive basketball,
After fourteen years away,
Is strengthened by the wins,

Like Amelia's.
Coming from fourth on
The hierarchy,
And overcoming the team with
No losses
By surprise and
Spirit.

Making it through overtime,
Winning on the buzzer,
But more than all of this,
Winning when everyone
Thinks we've lost.

The passing of years

This photo is representative of the passing of years to us - they go so fast, and our kids are growing up quickly. These 5 kids got together previously in WA and most recently at Phillip Island. Although they are all actually standing in different places in the second pic, they are growing at different rates, and I'm sure will be different again in the future!

We had a great time catching up with this family recently as we miss them overseas. Most of them jumped off the pier you can just see in the distance, although when we were in WA, it wasn't quite swimming weather, which is why they are all standing on the edge, rather than in the water, in the older of the two pictures. As they grow, may we let go and at the same time be there for them! Thanks Andy for the thoughtful and long term photographical genius!

Is this really 'Christian' voting???

If you read the Saltshaker organisation's website about the 2010 Victorian State Election, you'll find this table:

It purports to be a table showing how each of the parties voted for "bad" legislation.  There is no discussion provided here on why these are categorically negative.  I'm sure personally, that this stance is biblically challengeable.  Also, the Saltshakers have the following short statement on their homepage: 

Our children deserve to have something to look forward to, that's why Salt Shakers is dedicated to helping Christians understand the times and equipping them to be salt and light in the community by upholding Biblical values and by being more aware of the ethical issues affecting today's society.

Does being more aware of ethical issues mean seeing things in black and white?  Perhaps it is true that at least Saltshakers are engaging with politics.  Jurgen Moltmann, German theologian, said in 1971,

‘[The Christian community’s] new task then will lie in struggling against not only religious superstition but also political idolatry, not only religious alienation of man but also his political, social, and racial alienation in order to serve the liberation of man to his likeness to God in all areas where he suffers from inhumanity.’ (sic) Jűrgen Moltmann, ‘Political Theology’ in Theology Today, April, 1971;

As those Victorians amongst us vote tomorrow, may we in the voice of Moltmann support the liberation of men and women in all areas where he/she suffers, ready to enter the complexities of life, rather than mounting simplistic diatribes and misguided campaigns, labelling the 'other' as inhuman.

SNOW!!!

Yesterday, we arrived in Hakodate by an express train called the super hakucho (swan). On the train trip on the way we went on the longest tunnel in the world by train under the water about 240 metres for 23.3 kilometres. It was quite scary going under it knowing you were underwater. Once we were out of the tunnel there was snow on the ground which was exciting but the train kept going because we hadn't reached Hakodate yet. When we arrived in Hakodate however there was no snow. When we arrived we went for a look around and had some lunch. Dad and I had curry and gyoza for lunch. Then we went to a cable car which took us up a mountain that had lots of snow on it. I really enjoyed playing in the snow and making a snowman - something that I don't remember ever making before. Then we came back and checked into the hotel which is called Toyoko Inn. We then went to a beautiful outdoor onsen and went to our Italian buffet dinner feeling very relaxed. The buffet food was very nice and we were some of the only people in the dining place so we felt like we had it to ourselves. Then we went home and sank down on our comfortable beds and went to sleep.

By L

Yuki Daruma

Disney Sea!

Disney Sea!

On Tuesday we got up from our very comfortable beds at approx. 7:40 to get to breakfast at 8:30. Breakfast was really nice at the Ryokan and all Japanese food. On Tuesday, I was really excited because we were going to Disney Sea (Disney land except next to the sea and with better rides!). Dad wasn’t coming with us to Disney Sea because he was going to organise something for next year at a Japanese school. We left the Ryokan at 9:30 and got onto a train to the Disney Resort station. Disney had their own mono rail line so after we got to the station we had to go on their mono rail to get to Disney Sea. All the stations were Disney Land, Disney Resort and Disney Sea. When we got to Disney Sea J and I went to a French bakery type of place and we had a couple of pastry things with a drink. Then, we went on a boat trip to the other side of the theme park (Disney Sea was quite big). When we got off on the other side, there was a ride called Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. We decided we might as well go on it as it was just where we were. When we got in the line was HUGE!! We must have waited at least 45 minutes to get into the ride. When we were on the ride, it was very jerky and quite scary. It was really fun though. Then, we went into a place called Ariels playground with an under the sea theme which was cute. We went on a few rides there and I went on a good rollercoaster by myself. Then we decided to get some lunch and we found a good hotdog stand selling hot dogs. I bought a drink and then we went to a small café where I bought an ice-cream and J bought a hot chocolate. Then a parade started on the water and I went to look at it. It was SO loud!!! There was music blasting out of the speakers on high! Then Dad arrived, and J left

"Starbucks" はどこ？？？

On Monday, we didn’t have a very busy day but we did lots of shopping. First we went to a place Asakusa which had heaps of little souvenir shops. I bought a little key ring from outside one shop and after I bought the key ring, the lady in the shop literally pushed me into the shop so I could keep looking in the shop. She was pushing me quite hard and I wasn’t rude enough to push her back, so as soon as I got into the shop I walked out a different way. Then, we went to get a coffee/hot chocolate for afternoon tea at starbucks and I learnt how to ask in Japanese: スターバクスはどこですか。That means ‘where is starbucks?’ I also had a sausage roll (which they called a sausage pie).
After that, we went to Akihabara, where we bought G something which I wont write in case he reads this. There were lots of technology stores around where we were which were interesting to look at but strangely dressed up girls on every corner. They were wearing maids dresses and other weird things advertising café’s.
Then, we went to an internet café which was when we last updated this blog. It stank of smoke (the internet café, not the blog!) because there were people smoking there which was disgusting. Then we went to a small tempura place for lunch which was very nice tempura. We shared 1 plate because we weren’t very hungry!
That night was Dads night off taking the boys to dinner so we could go where we liked. First we went for dinner early at an Italian place which was delicious- if not very small! We had gnocchi and a small salad and shared them. I had ginger ale and dad had wine. Then we went to a really nice shop place called Tokyu Hands (ときゅうはんず). It had 8 levels all themed and interesting. We bought some stuff for people which we wont write about in case….
Then we went home and Dad posted a couple of coat-hangers and we went to bed on time for a change!!

Tokyo!!

Yesterday we arrived in Tokyo at lunch time and got lunch as soon as we arrived. The teachers got lost on the way back to our meeting place, but luckily everyone else found their way back to the train station and all the students were waiting for us when we arrived a few minutes late. We met up with our friends Kiyo and Tetsu and Ria and they took us to the Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, Omotesando and Shibuya! (by L)

The Meiji Shrine was amazing, with a Korean wedding, a Japanese wedding and all these kids dressed up for Shichi-Go-San Festival! Then one of the boys got a nose bleed in the middle of it all! A very bad one, luckily someone had some water to clean the ground up...
I (Gwyn) have never seen Harajuku so busy, it was literally wall to wall people. We had to work to get from one end of Takeshita dori to the other, but we made time to get an incredible crepe on the way, I had cream, ice-cream and peach. L had chocolate ice cream, cream and thats all.

Shibuya was also V busy, but we stopped to talk to our hosts, while the boys walked around tiring themselves out. A traditional ofuro never felt so good, at the end of the day - L and I are convinced that the Ryokan traditional guesthouse is far better than Japanese hotels! We have a private garden and veranda on our room... Cheers to all, G and L.

Nara

Today, we caught the fast train to Nara in the morning. We all had train tickets with allocated seats! It was raining all day, so when we got to Nara, we all bought umbrellas for ourselves. We walked through the absolutely packed with deer deer park. We then went to Todai-ji Temple, the largest wooden building in the world. It used to be bigger, but it burnt down and got rebuilt again - smaller - but still the largest building in the world. There was a lot of incense and candles there. Inside, there was a hole which would 'enlighten' you if you crawled through it. I crawled through it but got a bit stuck on the way because I went in headfirst. I managed to get through in the end.
By L

fears... of swine flu and...

Fears of swine flu - evident in Japan from the groups of students we saw today with face masks on. Later at Kiyomizudera, at the fountain which everyone wants to drink - of pure water - the cups they were using were being instantly purified by use of ultraviolet rays!

Still, having a great time - December not as cold as I thought as yet - but I could be speaking too soon!

Winter Japan

I've only experienced Japan in winter twice, both times whilst we were living there between 1998 and 2000. I'm pretty sure we didn't travel either, so this year is really going to be a revelation. We're off on Tuesday morning, to arrive in Japan about 9pm that night...

Our trip is going to start off in Kyoto for 5 days, including a couple of day trips to Himeji and Hiroshima. Hiroshima is the farthest south we'll venture, and then we'll head north. Three days in Tokyo, followed by Hachinohe (Aomori prefecture), Hakodate and Sapporo. I'm expecting by this stage to get out the scarf, gloves, and thermals. Most times when I've gone to Japan, its been mid summer, sweaty, Tshirts, shorts and summer festival season.

L and I are going this time, after I took G last year - it'll be fun for L to tag along I think, along with 12 students from school and another teacher.

Onsens will be the order of the day, something to warm us up, after braving the cold. At the top here is a photo of us at a most memorable onsen in our time in Japan - with friends - fun! Apparently the onsens of the north are renowned, so hopefully we'll be able to get to them up north. A brother in law of a teacher at our school happens to be a Professor at the Hiroshima Peace Institute, so I'm pretty excited that he'll organise a talk with an hibakusha (Atom bomb survivor) in Hiroshima. It'll be a chance for us Aussies to hear another side of the war to Anzac Day and Gallipoli. Also, K in Tokyo has organised two friends to meet us and take us around Harajuku, Shibuya, Yoyogi park on a Sunday - Kakkoii!!

I'm meeting a Principal in Tokyo for lunch, while my students go ahead to Disneyland... hoping to set up some sort of exchange, which has eluded us for a while.

Flu tracker

Here you go, a flu tracker, to keep track of how virulent that piggy flu is... Look, Australia's got 666 cases - but most of them are in Victoria, where I live...! Its not that bad really.